Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Item No: 5A <br />Meeting Date: August 20, 2014 <br />Type of Business: Planning Case <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Mounds View Planning Commission <br />From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate <br />Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing - Consideration of a Variance for a Reduced <br />Driveway Setback at 7851 Spring Lake Road; <br /> Planning Case VR2014-006 <br /> <br /> <br />Introduction: <br />The applicant, Corbin Hilgeman, is requesting approval of a variance for a reduced driveway <br />setback on his property at 7851 Spring Lake Road. The applicant recently built a detached <br />garage in the backyard and now wants to extend the existing driveway to connect to the new <br />garage. This extended driveway will run past the house and be closer than five feet to the <br />property line so the applicant has requested a reduced driveway setback variance. <br /> <br />Discusssion: <br />The applicant will be accessing the new garage in the backyard, so he will be installing a 10 foot <br />wide driveway from the existing driveway around the house to the garage. The existing attached <br />garage/house has about a 10 foot setback so where the new driveway runs next to the house, it <br />would have an 8-inch setback. The remainder of the driveway will have a 5-foot setback. <br /> <br />The Zoning Code states that the Planning Commission may issue a variance to provide relief to <br />the landowner in those cases where the Code imposes practical difficulties to the property owner <br />in the use of the property owner’s land. This is true for all variance requests. State statutes <br />require that the governing body review a set of specified criteria for each application and make its <br />decision in accordance with these criteria. These criteria are set forth in Section 1125.02, <br />Subdivision 2, of the City Code. A variance may be granted only in the event that all of the <br />following circumstances exist: <br /> <br />a. The variance is in harmony with the general purposes and intent of these regulations. <br /> <br />The zoning code requires minimum driveway setbacks for aesthetics and to provide separation <br />and some sense of privacy between neighbors. Homes are typically placed with the garage side <br />having the least amount of setback, making it difficult to access the rear yards. Older homes <br />rarely have more than a 2-car garage so it is becoming more common for residents to have <br />second garages in the backyard. <br /> <br />b. The variance is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. <br /> <br />The Comprehensive Plan does not specify setback criteria, but it does support improvements to <br />properties.